Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/295558 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
CReAM Discussion Paper Series No. 01/17
Publisher: 
Centre for Research & Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London, London
Abstract: 
Islamic law lays down detailed rules regulating the upbringing of children. This study examines the effect of such rules on parental behaviour by analysing the introduction of Sharia law in northern Nigeria. The empirical strategy exploits variation across administrative areas, time and religion together with the fact that the historical homelands of some Nigerian ethnicities fall into both states that introduced Islamic laws and states that did not. Estimates show that the introduction of Sharia law increased fertility, the duration of breastfeeding and primary school enrolment. Evidence further suggests that the Sharia affected behaviour by increasing the economic returns to sons and by raising the value of conspicuous adherence to Islam.
Subjects: 
Islam
Fertility
Breastfeeding
Nigeria
JEL: 
O15
J12
J13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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